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March 21, 2010

Zucchini Moong Dal





Since I had to cook fairly traditional meals over the last three weeks, I did a lot of “food-processing” over the weekends. I peeled kilo after kilo of sambar onions that I brought back from Bangalore, diced carrots, beetroots and zucchini and chayote squash, chopped beans and cabbage and filled my freezer with different “vegetable mixes” – for sambar, avial, kootu and pulao, in addition to everything else. I used to do this sort of thing earlier (in my somewhat more organized avatar) and I stopped when I started paying my maid to chop vegetables for us. Now, I find it easier to do things myself than explain to my perennially appearing harassed maid how I want something done. One side of me begs me to not “waste” my weekends, but the more practical side of me tells me I should know better than to have vegetable related stress on a weekday.



Zucchini is in season. And it is has been robbed of its “exotic vegetable” status. When a vegetable is sold at the same price as or cheaper than the other seasonal vegetables, it can’t retain its exotic tag for very long. Not in my books, at least. And that is the same fate that Zucchini met with in my kitchen this spring. I am surprised I haven’t made sambar with mushrooms yet, but then again, mushrooms didn’t exactly reach the price nadir this year.



I opened my freezer to find a bag of frozen Zucchini and decided to make lunch with it. This dish turned out to be finger licking good and we mopped it up with rotis at lunch.



2 meduim sized Zucchini, chopped

1/2 cup Moong Dal, washed

1 tsp Oil

1/4 tsp Cumin Seeds

1/4 tsp Asafoetida

7-8 Curry Leaves

1 Green Chilli, slit

1/4 tsp Turmeric Powder

1/2 tsp Chilli Powder

1/4 tsp Cumin Powder

1/4 tsp Coriander Powder

Salt to taste



Heat the oil in a pressure pan. Add the cumin seeds and asafoetida. When the cumin crackles, add the curry leaves and green chilli and fry for a minute. Add the dal and saute for another minute before adding the turmeric and chilli powders. Add the zucchini pieces and salt along with the cumin and coriander powders. Add 1 cup of water and cover and cook for 1-2 whistles. Garnish with coriander leaves if you like.



Serve hot with rice or rotis.

11 comments:

Hari Chandana P said...

Very creative idea.. Nice combination.. Lovely One!!

Parita said...

Healthy and delicious dal, a new combo!

Unknown said...

Great way to combine zucchini with dal. Sounds hearty n comforting!

Raji P. said...

mmm one of my faves - though my BIL says zucchini is only edible if made into a boat (zucchini boat). I actually made this same dish 2 days ago for my kids, and the darned moong dal had solidified by the time we ate it and it did not look appetizing enough for their discerning palate! :) :) What do you do to de-solidify moong dal dishes? I seem to have to reconstitute them and the volume keeps growing and it still solidifies!

Chitra said...

Nice.new to me..

Deepa G Joshi said...

hey moong dal and zucchini is a nice combo..looks so comforting..

www.foodlyrics.com

FoodLovers said...

Healthy dal Raaga..

Miri said...

Ha ha Zucchini kootu - definitely not exotic status - looks good though!

SpicyTasty said...

Never made kootu with zucchini and it looks yummy!!!!

Sarah Naveen said...

Nice and healthy combo..looks so yummy!!

Soma Pradhan said...

This is an ultra healthy recipe..I would definitely try this out